


Sing For Me

by amethyst-noir (Arbonne)



Series: Prompt Collection [77]
Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Couch Cuddles, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Sappy Ending, Stephen Strange Bingo 2019, Tony Stark Has A Heart, but only for a moment then it gets cute again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-04 04:31:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20465060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arbonne/pseuds/amethyst-noir
Summary: "You insult my singing, I'm insulting your ice-cream. Fair is fair."





	Sing For Me

**Author's Note:**

> I got this lovely prompt:  
_can i prompt sth like: stephen likes to sing but doesnt do it very well so he is very self conscious about it and only enjoys it alone. but then he gets together with tony and starts feeling comfortable enough to sing along to songs when tony is in the room. and it's great at first and then tony makes some off hand comment about his skills and stephen gets so self conscious he stops doing it altogether. tony notices and apologizes cause he didnt mean anything bad by it and he likes it in fact._
> 
> Another fun one, yay! I love the banter between those two and I'm just sad that I couldn't think of an ice-cream flavor worthy of our Sorcerer. So I've done a River Song and left us all in suspense.  
The song quoted is, of course, _Everybody Hurts_ by R.E.M., one of my favorite songs of all times. Please check it out if you don't know it, it's truly beautiful.  
@stephenstrangebingo prompt: _"Bit chalky."_

It was Stephen quietly humming along to a Tony's workshop music that made Tony realize he hadn't heard Stephen sing in a while now. Quite a long while, actually.

"Hey, Stephen!"

The humming stopped as Stephen's awareness returned from his book and into the present. "Hmm?"

Tony looked at him, how peaceful and relaxed he was curled up on the couch near to the window and all thoughts about singing flew right out of his mind. "Nothing," he murmured and gave an embarrassed smile as he was caught staring.

Stephen smiled back. "That I can believe," he said but there was only gentle teasing in his voice. His wonderful, deep, expressive…

"I haven't heard you sing in forever," Tony blurted out and could have kicked himself a second later when Stephen closed the book and stood up. His happy and carefree expression was replaced by the same blank wall Tony had spent so much time finding his way over and it _hurt_ to see it again.

"I have to go back to the Sanctum." Great, now even Stephen's voice had turned icy. "I forgot something over there."

Shit, fuck, damn, he'd fucked up. Again. He didn't know exactly how he'd fucked up but it was serious. "Stephen, I…"

"Goodbye."

_Oh, no! You don't._ Tony's reflexes were faster than Stephen's movements and he was at his boyfriend's side, holding his hand and keeping the portal from being formed at the very last moment. "I'm sorry!"

Stephen just _looked_ at him. "You don't even know for what."

No, he didn't. He'd just made an innocent comment about Stephen's singing and - O_h, God. Really?_ "You do realize that I love your voice, right? Doesn't matter if you're speaking, chanting, singing - your voice is as gorgeous as the rest of you and I miss hearing you sing."

He got a pained grimace for that so… jackpot. Fuck.

_As gorgeous as your speaking voice is your singing voice still needs some work._

His own words from weeks ago, here to bite him in the ass. Fuck. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

Stephen's face was still blank but at least he didn't try to escape via portal anymore. "You did." He gave a sigh and relaxed abruptly. "And you're right. I know that I'm crap at singing. Sometimes I just forget myself and do it anyway."

_Oh, baby._ Now that the danger of immediate flight was gone Tony gave himself permission to come down from high alert. The fact that Stephen let himself be led over to the couch was another worry down. Still, he made sure to hold on to Stephen's hand and he sat them both down. He didn't know how to continue from here one. Instead he focused on the book Stephen had left on the couch.

It was ancient, leather-bound and the title inscription alone was a mystery. Tony had no doubt that he couldn't recognize a single symbol in it should he open it. "How did you learn all this mystic language crap anyway?" he asked absently and stroked the cover. Since Stephen let him continue without warning it was a safe one. Good.

"A good memory and Google translate," Stephen gave back absently, obviously distracted by watching Tony touching the book.

Tony snorted. "I'm pretty sure that Google doesn't have whatever this is."

Silence. "Karl helped me in the beginning."

The little bit he'd heard of this Karl guy wasn't to his liking. "Not Wong?" 

"Wong and I didn't exactly see eye to eye when we first met. No, that's too harsh. We just didn't interact that much in the beginning."

Now, _that_ was a surprise. "Hard to imagine now. You're so close, at first I thought I have no chance with you because you're with him."

That made Stephen smile. "Me and Wong? I have no idea what his type is but it's not me, rest assured." He reached out and Tony let himself be drawn into an embrace. He _loved_ being in Stephen's arms and to rest his head on his shoulder.

"And your type?" Okay, so now he was fishing. But Stephen seemed to have forgiven his blunder and he wanted assurance.

"Good-looking, intelligent, snarky, able to keep up with me…"

"So, basically me or Wong, right?"

That earned him a sharp nip to his earlobe. "My type also has a rather boring ice-cream flavor."

"Hey!"

"You insult my singing, I'm insulting your ice-cream. Fair is fair."

"That's one of the first things you ever said to me."

"Bit chalky." Now Stephen was outright laughing.

"Yes, I remember." Tony made a disgusted face and turned around to squash his face against Stephen's shoulder. "It's not, though. Stark Raving Hazelnuts is great. The greatest there is." _At least until you get your own, my love._ Even Tony didn't know what it was going to be yet but he knew that it was under development. He couldn't wait to fill their freezer full of it, no matter the flavor.

"Not as great as you," Stephen whispered into his hair and the last of Tony's anxiety melted away at the tender words.

"Likewise." He took a deep breath. "And I mean it. I really love your singing voice. It's so full of emotion."

"Don't oversell it, Tony." He could feel Stephen tense up again. Fuck.

"I'm not. Really." He put his arms around Stephen's waist to keep him in place. "Please, sing for me? I miss your voice."

"You hear me talking all the time if you're not talking over me."

He squeezed Stephen a little bit harder to show his displeasure at that. "You know what I mean."

"What do you want to hear?"

"Surprise me."

It took him a moment but when he began Tony closed his eyes and mouthed the words along with Stephen:

_"When your day is long / And the night / The night is yours alone / When you're sure you've / had enough / Of this life / Well hang on / Don't let yourself go / 'Cause everybody cries / And everybody hurts sometimes…"_

FRIDAY provided the music unasked and Tony didn't know if he was supposed to laugh, cry, or hit Stephen. He choose to cuddle closer instead and joined in at the third chorus:

_"'Cause everybody hurts / Take comfort in your friends / Everybody hurts / Don't throw your hand / Oh, no / Don't throw your hand / If you feel like you're alone / No, no, no, you're not alone…"_

_"Everybody hurts,"_ Stephen sang the second to last line alone.

_"You are not alone,"_ Tony whispered back, ending the song on a hopeful note. "That was beautiful. Really." Stephen kissed him to shut him up. Only now Tony realized that he was blushing like crazy, making him look even more beautiful in the process. "Thank you. And never let me be such an idiot again."

"You'll always be an idiot. _My_ idiot." Stephen let himself glide down on the sofa, keeping Tony on top of him. "And your ice-cream _is_ a bit chalky."

Tony, feeling safe and happy like he hadn't in a while, just nodded. "Whatever you say. It's still gonna be a great match with yours when it comes out."

"Mine?! Tony? What?"

Tony just laughed at him. "Spoilers, sweetheart. You'll see."

"Toooony…"

"Nope, my lips are sealed. I don't know what it's going to be anyway so it's gonna be a surprise for both of us."

Stephen tried again but he refused to answer any more questions and settled down for a lovely evening of cuddling with his boyfriend. Stephen gave in with little grace and refused to let himself talked into singing another song in retaliation.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this little piece of fluff. 💞
> 
> [tumblr](https://amethyst-noir.tumblr.com/post/187400451041/can-i-prompt-sth-like-stephen-likes-to-sing-but/)


End file.
